Today I want to introduce you to another blogger, Vivian Schrock. She writes on her blog God’s whispers of truth, how her faith has helped her to survive pain filled struggles. It has been especially important for her as her brain injury went undiscovered for many years. Finally, she began to understand what she had been going through. Only approximately 18 months ago, her husband convinced her to see a chiropractor. She had experienced numbness from the waist down for the second time within one year. That’s when the X-rays showed a head injury/compression.
I’m not sure which of my three car accidents gave me TBI. The first accident of 1991 was by far the worst. Two beautiful girls were killed that day, after our minivan went past the guard rail. It rolled down an embankment, loaded with us, six youths en route to summer camp. Our 17 year old driver spaced out at the wheel. I’m guessing that caused the most damage to my skull and dura matter, even though I walked away from that outwardly unscathed. The following two accidents gave me a pretty good whiplash. Both occurrences, I was rear ended by larger vehicles (a church van and a suburban) than I was driving at that time. I did end up in months of physical therapy after the final accident because of back problems which never shined a light on my skull compression.
I had years of migraines. I never knew why I was so nervous and jittery, and finally in more recent years, fatigue.
In August of 2016 this undiscovered head injury started having a domino effect on my thirty-something-mom-of-four body. My neck, spine, and sacrum began to fall to pieces resulting in going numb from the waist down. We went to a chiropractic specialist who first discovered I had a head injury. In order to halt the progression of my deterioration, they started doing cranial-sacral adjustments right away.
Nothing could have prepared me for the grueling months to follow.
Two months into the process, my adrenal glands went into failure from severe electrolyte imbalance. After finding a medical professional that knew how to help that issue, I began to push through adjustments with slow progress. And God is holding me….
Samuel Rutherford says, ‘Whenever I find myself in the cellar of affliction, I always look about for the wine.’
I’m learning so much as I research and try out new ideas for healing. My desire is to offer the hope of Jesus and raise awareness for others. If you are reading this blog, please feel free to share your story with me and know that you are not alone. I’m greatly honored to have you join me.
7 replies on “Guest blog: Vivian Schrock on, living with an undiscovered brain injury”
Thanks for sharing your story, and best of luck on your continued recovery. It’s amazing that it took so long for your TBI to be discovered!
Thanks for your encouraging share. As more people are made aware of the impact a TBi may have, more people may ask and accept assistance of obtaining and learning the compensatory strategies and therapies that can assist one in life. aloha & blessings…
I agree. I hope that we continue to make steady progress and the future of survivors becomes even brighter.
Agreed!
Definitely a TBI Warrior. You are a strong woman.
I have a story along the same line. Only I have endured years of emotional abuse bc of my TBI. No one not my family, not my ex-husband, not even I realized what was happening. I spent alot of years being punished and rejected because no one believed me for vavierty of reasons.
I was told “I should just get over it”, as time went by I was told that was years ago. I have had multiple head trauma, and trauma. I would like to share my story to help others understand the Impact of brain trauma.
My 1st head injury was the worst – I went head 1st through the side door window of a car. We were stopped the woman in the other car was doing about 55. I opened the window with my head, spliting open my head (not skull) landed on the side walk curb with the back of my head slamming against the curb.
I had frontal as well as back head trauma, along with major neck issues that followed. Coordination, hearing loss, memory loss, confusion, anger out burst, seizures, I’d pass out when I got over whelmed, and more.
This has been inspiring. I believe it’s finally time for me to share my story.
OH, my heart goes out to all of you who had to exist in a limbo state of trying to fit in, trying to be okay, trying to live effortlessly when in truth every day was a struggle. The isolation alone is gut wrenching when you are looked upon with blame and judgement. There are so many walking wounded out there, too many. I cringe when I see car accidents on the television news and if a person didn’t die they are presumed to be fine. I know they’re not fine, not anywhere near fine. What can be done to raise awareness of this epidemic of missed diagnosis? What can be done to change those harsh words, “You look fine. What’s wrong with you?” I feel like we’re all in a room down a long hallway. We’re left to ourselves for no-one comes down that way. This isn’t right. If we’re lucky enough to be diagnosed correctly, we’re plugged into the system and become part of the network. But if not diagnosed? We wander and wonder, “What’s wrong with me?” No, what’s wrong with the system and what can we do to fix it?
Thank you for sharing your story Vivian ?